MSMS Instructor Charles Vaughan was surrounded by his astronomy students on a recent Tuesday in the Hogarth Student Center parking lot. A large telescope commanded the attention of all as Dr. Vaughan adjusted its lens. The images offered through the lens were close-up views of a few wonders of the universe: the Earth’s moon and the rings of Saturn. This is just one activity of many that Dr. Vaughan plans to use to teach his students “a different perspective on how they understand the world.”

Dr. Vaughan earned his Ph.D. in Applied Physics/Engineering from Mississippi State University in May. He was introduced to MSMS when he participated in a teaching fellowship in 2013.  “I greatly enjoyed working with the students and the faculty,” Vaughan said.  Since then, he set MSMS as an “ideal workplace.” Now, he teaches three classes of AP Physics I and one Astronomy & Astrophysics class.

Senior Rachel Bobo, a student in Dr. Vaughan’s AP Physics I class, believes the new instructor is off to a great start. “Dr. Vaughan is a very enthusiastic teacher, and I think he will further my understanding of physics and help me prepare for the AP test.”

However, he has had some qualms about teaching. Asked how he was faring at MSMS, Dr. Vaughan replied, “Like a duck. Smooth sailing on the surface, paddling furiously underneath…The hardest thing is making sure I have enough material and content to keep everybody engaged because there’s such a heightened level of talent.”

Dr. Vaughan is “looking forward to a lot of fun physics classes and a little bit of astronomy visits too” in the coming year.